Legal claims defining the scope of protection. Each claim is shown in both the original legal language and a plain English translation.
1. A method of software item testing, said method comprising: conducting an automated test of a software item within a computing environment; responsive to occurrence of an error condition during said test, automatically capturing documentation of an execution state associated with said software item at a time of occurrence of said error condition, said automatically capturing documentation of an execution state associated with said software item at a time of occurrence of said error condition comprising: provided said software item under test is associated with graphical output of said software item, automatically capturing a screen shot of an execution state of said software item upon occurrence of said error condition; provided said software item under test is not associated with graphical output of said software item, automatically capturing a snap shot of software item log file from said software item under test upon occurrence of said error condition; capturing a test log of actions performed during said test; annotating said test log with a description of said error condition; and electronically referencing said captured documentation as a hyperlink within said test log; and electronically forwarding said captured documentation of the execution state associated with said software item to a designated electronic notification location.
The invention is a method for automatically capturing error data during software testing. When an automated test finds an error in a software item, the system automatically documents the software's execution state at the time of the error. If the software has a graphical output, a screenshot is taken. If not, a snapshot of the software's log file is captured. The system also captures a test log of all actions performed during the test, and the error is described within this log. The captured screenshot or log snapshot is then linked within the test log. Finally, this captured error documentation is electronically sent to a designated location like an email address, for example.
2. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein said automatically capturing documentation of an execution state associated with said software item at a time of occurrence of said error condition further comprises: capturing a snap shot of a device under test testing log from a computing environment upon which said software item is being tested.
In addition to the automated error data capture described in claim 1, this method also captures a snapshot of the device-under-test's logging information when the error occurs. Specifically, during the automated test of a software item within a computing environment, when an error happens, the system automatically documents the software's execution state. If the software has a graphical output, a screenshot is taken; otherwise, a snapshot of the software log file is captured. A test log is created with actions performed during the test, the error is annotated in this log, and the snapshot or screenshot is linked in the log. Also, a device-under-test log snapshot is captured. This data is electronically forwarded.
3. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein said electronically forwarding said captured documentation of an execution state associated with said software item to a designated electronic notification location comprises: electronically forwarding said captured documentation to a designated electronic notification location selected from the group consisting of: an electronic mail address, a social network, a wiki, a flat file, a spread sheet, and a network storage location.
Regarding the automated error data capture method from claim 1, the electronic forwarding of the error documentation is sent to a location selected from a group of possibilities. During automated testing, when an error is detected, the execution state is automatically documented via screenshot (if graphical) or log file snapshot. A test log is annotated with the error and links to the documentation. The captured documentation is electronically sent to a destination, which can be an email address, a social network, a wiki, a flat file, a spreadsheet, or a network storage location.
4. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions stored thereon which, when executed, cause a computing system to perform a method of software item testing, said method comprising: conducting an automated test of a software item; responsive to occurrence of an error condition during said test, automatically capturing test data associated with said error condition, said automatically capturing test data associated with said error condition comprising: provided said software item under test is associated with graphical output of said software item, automatically capturing a screen shot of an execution state of said software item upon occurrence of said error condition; provided said software item under test is not associated with graphical output of said software item, automatically capturing a snap shot of software item log file from said software item under test upon occurrence of said error condition; capturing a test log of actions performed during said test; annotating said test log with a description of said error condition; and embedding a hyperlink in said test log, said hyperlink comprising a link to additional captured data regarding said error condition; and forwarding a portion of said captured test data to a designated electronic notification location.
This invention is a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that contains instructions for automatically capturing error data during software testing. When the instructions are executed, an automated test of a software item is performed. If an error is encountered, the system automatically captures data related to the error. This includes a screenshot if the software has a graphical output, or a snapshot of the software's log file if not. The system creates a test log, describes the error in the log, and embeds a hyperlink in the test log that links to the captured error data. A portion of the captured data is then sent to a designated electronic location, like an email.
5. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 4 , wherein said conducting an automated test of a software item comprises: conducting said automated test of said software item utilizing a virtual machine as a device under test.
The computer-readable storage medium described in claim 4, which automates error data capture during software testing, performs the automated test using a virtual machine as the device under test. During automated testing, when an error is detected, the execution state is automatically documented via screenshot (if graphical) or log file snapshot. A test log is created with the error information, hyperlinked to the documentation. A portion of this captured data is sent to a designated electronic location. The testing is performed on a virtual machine.
6. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 4 , wherein said conducting an automated test of a software item comprises: conducting said automated test of said software item utilizing a cloud computing environment.
The computer-readable storage medium described in claim 4, which automates error data capture during software testing, performs the automated test using a cloud computing environment. During automated testing, when an error is detected, the execution state is automatically documented via screenshot (if graphical) or log file snapshot. A test log is created with the error information, hyperlinked to the documentation. A portion of this captured data is sent to a designated electronic location. The testing is performed within a cloud computing environment.
7. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 4 , wherein said capturing test data associated with said error condition comprises: capturing a snap shot of a device under test log file upon occurrence of said error condition.
In the computer-readable storage medium of claim 4 for automated error data capture, capturing test data associated with the error condition includes capturing a snapshot of the device-under-test's log file when the error occurs. When an error is detected via automated testing, the execution state is automatically documented via screenshot (if graphical) or log file snapshot. A test log is created with the error information and hyperlinked to the documentation. It also includes capturing a snapshot of the device-under-test log file upon error occurrence.
8. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 4 , wherein said capturing test data associated with said error condition comprises: creating a summary of statistics regarding said test.
Regarding the computer-readable storage medium of claim 4 for automating error data capture, capturing test data associated with the error involves creating a summary of statistics about the test. During automated testing, when an error is detected, the execution state is automatically documented via screenshot (if graphical) or log file snapshot. A test log is created with the error information and hyperlinked to the documentation. This also includes creating a statistical summary of the test.
9. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 4 , wherein said hyperlink is embedded in said test log at a point associated with said error condition.
In the non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 4 for automated error data capture, the hyperlink to the captured error data is embedded in the test log at the specific point in the log that corresponds to the error's occurrence. During automated testing, when an error is detected, the execution state is automatically documented via screenshot (if graphical) or log file snapshot. A test log is created with the error information, and the hyperlink to the captured documentation is embedded at the point in the log where the error happened.
10. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 4 , wherein said forwarding a portion of said captured test data to a designated electronic notification location comprises: forwarding said portion of said captured test data to a designated electronic notification location selected from the group consisting of: an electronic mail address, a social network, a wiki, a flat file, a spread sheet, and a network storage location.
With respect to the computer-readable storage medium of claim 4 for automatic error data capture, forwarding a portion of the captured error data includes forwarding it to a specific destination. During automated testing, when an error is detected, the execution state is automatically documented via screenshot (if graphical) or log file snapshot. A test log is created with the error information, and a hyperlink is added to the captured documentation. The captured documentation is sent to an email address, a social network, a wiki, a flat file, a spreadsheet, or a network storage location.
11. A method of software item testing, said method comprising: conducting an automated test of a software item within a computing environment; and responsive to occurrence of an error condition during said test: automatically annotating a description of said error condition into a test log of actions performed during said test to create an annotated test log; automatically capturing documentation of an execution state associated with said software item at a time of occurrence of said error condition, said automatically capturing documentation of an execution state associated with said software item at a time of occurrence of said error condition comprising: provided said software item under test is associated with graphical output of said software item, automatically capturing a screen shot of an execution state of said software item at said time of occurrence of said error condition; and provided said software item under test is not associated with graphical output of said software item, automatically capturing a snap shot of software item log file from said software item at said time of occurrence of said error condition; and embedding a hyperlink to said captured documentation within said annotated test log.
The invention is a method for automated error logging during software testing. An automated test is run on a software item. When an error occurs, a description of that error is automatically added to a test log of actions, creating an annotated test log. Also automatically captured is documentation of the software's state when the error happened. If the software has graphical output, a screenshot is taken. If there is no graphical output, a snapshot of the software's log file is taken. A hyperlink to this captured documentation (screenshot or log snapshot) is then embedded in the annotated test log.
12. The method as recited in claim 11 , further comprising: electronically forwarding said annotated test log to a designated electronic notification location.
Building upon claim 11, this method electronically forwards the annotated test log (containing error descriptions and links to documentation) to a designated electronic notification location. First, an automated test is run. If an error is detected, the error is automatically described in the test log. Then, the system automatically captures a screenshot (if graphical) or a log file snapshot. Finally, a hyperlink to that captured documentation is embedded in the test log. This annotated test log is electronically forwarded.
13. The method as recited in claim 12 , wherein said electronically forwarding said log of actions to a designated electronic notification location comprises: electronically forwarding said annotated test log to a designated electronic notification location selected from the group consisting of: an electronic mail address, a social network, a wiki, a flat file, a spread sheet, and a network storage location.
Expanding on the method described in claim 12, the electronic forwarding of the annotated test log (with error descriptions and documentation links) is sent to a chosen location. An automated test is run, and when an error occurs, the test log is annotated, and the system automatically captures a screenshot (if graphical) or log file snapshot. A hyperlink to that captured documentation is embedded in the test log. This annotated test log is electronically forwarded to an email address, a social network, a wiki, a flat file, a spreadsheet, or network storage.
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September 16, 2014
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